Humans as the Center of the Universe - Atheist Nexus2015-08-03T00:17:27Zhttp://atheistnexus.org/forum/topics/humans-as-the-center-of-the-univers?groupUrl=atheistsinthebiologicalsciences&feed=yes&xn_auth=noIn the end, natural selection…tag:atheistnexus.org,2011-08-20:2182797:Comment:15587222011-08-20T12:46:17.463ZPhilhttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/Phil809
<p>In the end, natural selection controls all biota. It doesn't care how smart you are unless that smartness furthers survival, breeding, survival. ad nauseum.</p>
<p>I see at least three fatal flaws in the jump to science.</p>
<p>#1 - We're making zoo animals out of ourselves, increasingly dependent on our technology, building an ever higher and more fragile house of cards. Pull the plug now and billions die. And it's just been a century or so. Antibiotics, food production and distribution, et…</p>
<p>In the end, natural selection controls all biota. It doesn't care how smart you are unless that smartness furthers survival, breeding, survival. ad nauseum.</p>
<p>I see at least three fatal flaws in the jump to science.</p>
<p>#1 - We're making zoo animals out of ourselves, increasingly dependent on our technology, building an ever higher and more fragile house of cards. Pull the plug now and billions die. And it's just been a century or so. Antibiotics, food production and distribution, et al. </p>
<p>#2 - Relatedly, we don't have the honing effect of the wild - the savannahs of Africa and wherever <em>H. sapiens</em> faced nature red in tooth and claw. This dovetails with #1 above. The drive to procreate is failing in advanced societies; the future belongs to those who breed, and they seldom have advanced degrees.</p>
<p>#3 - Like any pond overgrown with duckweed, there is inevitably and invariably a big die-off. Clearly there is no sign yet that we'll get a grip in time to avert it.</p>
<p>Nature may just slap us back to the stone age from time to time. A new population will bloom, perhaps play with science, and as a consequence be slapped back down again.<a target="_self" href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/MHw1yZ3OGIrPIEuYpi9U1ZYU0wgtb6X0ri0gSvTYNNY0VZnPSgZofQY1s4icFLGW4kczNapEQU2gZ90DxeGWdAvuExCVZJT0/BirthRate.png"><img width="721" src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/MHw1yZ3OGIrPIEuYpi9U1ZYU0wgtb6X0ri0gSvTYNNY0VZnPSgZofQY1s4icFLGW4kczNapEQU2gZ90DxeGWdAvuExCVZJT0/BirthRate.png?width=721" class="align-full"/></a></p> I think we already have made…tag:atheistnexus.org,2011-08-20:2182797:Comment:15579792011-08-20T11:40:04.731ZMrinahttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/MrinaNikrad
I think we already have made some major leaps using the scientific method- namely all the new technologies we've discovered and applied to every field from IVF and fertility to space travel and powerful weapons and particle physics and nanotechnology. I think humans will live long enough and use this method enough that we'll end up changing something drastic. Unless we all follow the way of "Idiocracy" ... then there's no hope...
I think we already have made some major leaps using the scientific method- namely all the new technologies we've discovered and applied to every field from IVF and fertility to space travel and powerful weapons and particle physics and nanotechnology. I think humans will live long enough and use this method enough that we'll end up changing something drastic. Unless we all follow the way of "Idiocracy" ... then there's no hope...